Within this section, the learner will:
- review the four main parts of a journal article
- read a research article related to environmental impact
- review the research article using the scientific method as scaffolding
1. The Scientific Paper
2. Recognizing the Scientist in You
3. Your Simulated Review Process
4. Parts of a Research Report
5. Background: Environmental Impact
6. Adapted Scholarly Journal Article: Environmental Impact Statement
7. Knowledge Check Questions
8. Simulated Peer Review Questions
1. The Scientific Paper
A McDonalds cook’s product could be a McMuffin. A carpenter’s product may be a house. What might the product of a scientist be? It is a scientific paper published in a scholarly journal. When scientists complete a research project that explain the project and report the results in a report that they submit for publication in a scholarly journal. Upon receipt of the scientific paper, the journal editor sends the paper to experts for evaluation, a process called “peer review.” Peer review involves a detailed analysis by those experts of the strengths and weaknesses of the research addressed in the paper. Peer reviewers may approve the paper as written, may reject the paper as written but offer to review a revision, or completely reject it. If reviewers and editor approve the paper for publication after peer review, this published paper (also called a journal article) adds to the accumulating data and concepts in that area of research.
Articles like this are considered “primary sources” of research and are made available to scientists all around the world. All other sources of scientific information like reviews, textbooks, web sites, and lectures are called “secondary or tertiary sources” and lack the rigorous evaluation by experts that is given to original research papers.
2. Recognizing the Scientist in You
You are now going to learn about “peer review” by doing it, using an actual original research report (scientific paper).
“What? I’m not a Ph.D.!
How do you expect me to do something so sophisticated?”
Slow down! No need to panic! It is not really all that sophisticated. You have the same kind of brain as a scientist! You are able to think critically and creatively.
You are able to determine good ideas from bad ideas and strong data from weak data. You can tell the difference between important findings and trivial findings. And you are capable of generating your own ideas. While you don’t yet have the formal training to be as good at this as real scientists, we all must start somewhere!
We are going to help you get started by giving you all the tools you need to conduct your own peer review of a scientific paper. First, we will give you key background information to help you understand more about both the peer review process and the specific research topic you will be considering. Finally, we will provide you with a version of the original research paper that we re-wrote so it is easier to understand. At the key points in the paper, we show a text box with questions you need to answer with critical and creative thought.
Through this activity, you will discover the thrill of realizing you too can think critically and conduct real scientific analysis when provided the tools, shown how and given the chance to practice! If your teacher allows several students to work together on this research review, you will also learn from each other how to think critically and creatively. Best of all, you will be learning science in the very same way as real scientists. That is what this experience is all about!
3. Your Simulated Review Process
This learning activity aims to give you first-hand experience with the peer review process. We do not expect that you are experts in the field, but we are confident that you and your classmates will be able to successfully analyze the research report provided. You may need to ask an adult for assistance or look up a few things on your own, but that is perfectly okay.
In this activity, you will conduct the research review and then write a report that we will pretend will be sent to the journal editor. (In this case, others in your class and your teacher will be our imaginary journal editor.) Depending on instructions given by your teacher, you will either work independently or as part of a group to analyze each section of the research paper using the questions in the text boxes below as your guide. This activity is not meant to be performed all in one class period. Best results can occur if you can pool ideas from a well-working learning group.
It is important for you to know that you are not obliged to praise the article. Your job is to analyze it and if needed, even criticize parts of the rationale, experimental methods, results, or research discussion that seem deficient.
We expect you to think critically and creatively and share those ideas with others in your report.
4. Parts of a Research Report
A proper research report has four main parts, in this order: why, how, what and so what. Most research reports begin with an “Abstract” that summarizes the four main parts of the report.
Why. An introduction section (often called “Introduction”) of the report explains why the researchers wanted to invest time, money, and effort into this study. If the study is observational, the authors should explain why the scientific world would benefit from knowing about these observations. If the study is driven by a hypothesis, that hypothesis should be stated clearly along with an explanation justifying it.
How. The next section of the report (often called “Methods”) describes the experimental design, tools and equipment used, and details of the procedures used in the study.
What. The third section of the report (often called “Results”) presents the data generated by the study. Data are usually accompanied by statistical analysis. This analysis helps the reader know if the research results are likely due to chance or experimental manipulation.
So What. The last section of the report (often called “Discussion”) includes a discussion of the meaning of the research results. This includes analysis of the limitations of the research methods used, interpretation of the data, and discussion of the research relative to what other researchers have reported about the topic. This section also explores how the results from this study apply to the original need for the information or hypothesis. Finally, the authors usually suggest how their results might lead to new research projects to further extend the knowledge and understanding of the topic.
You will be addressing each of these four parts in your review.
5. Background: Environmental Impact
Offshore oil and natural gas drilling occur in many countries. In the U.S., the extra sources of hydrocarbon-based energy (from burning carbon molecules) contributes greatly to making the U.S. independent of foreign energy sources and associated socioeconomic influences. This is important because many foreign sources of imported oil and natural gas are produced in countries that are not friendly to the U.S. and could prohibit importation of their oil to force the U.S. to do their bidding. In addition, some of these countries are in unstable political climates with some facilities and transport mechanisms under threat of attack, even if friendly to the U.S.
A key problem is that offshore drilling is technologically challenging and can cause catastrophic oil spills that damage marine and estuarine ecosystems. The most recent major petroleum spill in the U.S. was the Deepwater Horizon drilling accident in the Gulf of Mexico in 2010. The cost of any needed cleanup falls on the oil drilling companies responsible for the spill. In the Deepwater Horizon spill, for example, British Petroleum paid at least $8.8 billion for cleanup.
Under international law, national governments own the mineral rights in their offshore waters. When the U.S. government wants to lease drilling rights, they put out a call for proposals to develop an Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) for the proposed ocean drilling plots. The EIS addresses oil and gas leasing and identifies issues, impacts, and potential alternatives to be addressed. Federal agencies typically outsource the writing of an EIS to third party contractors (including lawyers, scientists, engineers, sociologists, economists) with expertise in EIS preparation and in projects similar to the one proposed here. This is an expensive and time-consuming process that factors into the economic feasibility of pursuing these resources.
The Department of the Interior governs all U.S. federal offshore drilling. This can get complicated since states’ rights also exist in estuaries and certain distances off shore. The Department of the Interior and related state agencies control the terms and stipulations in the lease contracts with oil companies. Some terms are mandated by law and not negotiable. Lessee rights depend on their due diligence in adhering to the stipulations in the contract for oil drilling and associated activities. The contractor must submit and have approved a Standard Operating Procedures plan. The Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM), a sub-agency of the U.S. Department of the Interior, controls the contract requirements and stipulations, many of which are influenced by the findings of the EIS.
The lease holders are typically major oil companies, such as Exon, Shell, British Petroleum, and so on. These companies negotiate contracts with oil drilling contractors, who are also bound by the terms of the lease.
Sources:
americanbar.org/groups/public_education/publications/teaching-legal-docs/teaching-legal-docs–what-is-an-environmental-impact-statement-/
https://digitalcommons.law.lsu.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1069&context=jelr
6. Adapted Scholarly Journal Article: Environmental Impact Statement
Download the adapted journal article and conduct a review of its contents.
Using the guidance provided by your teacher and within the article, work individually or as a group to supply analysis for each indicated section within this article.
At different points in the paper, you will see some questions. Cut and paste these questions into the report you are going to prepare on your local device. You should make notes on what you think the answer is for each question and later file a report of your answers to each of these questions to your teacher.
You will submit your report as directed by the teacher. If you are working in a group, develop a group answer. Google docs is a useful platform where you can share your response with the group.
Download Article
7. Knowledge Check Questions
You have now read an adapted scholarly journal article on axonal injuries. Before you begin the simulated peer review, let’s first check your understanding and knowledge about what you just read.
Knowledge Check Question 1: What part of the lease region was blocked from leasing any drilling contracts?
Knowledge Check Question 2: The final authority on off-shore oil and gas drilling is the U.S. Department of ____________.
Knowledge Check Question 3: Who was NOT invited to submit concerns to be considered for the EIS?
- People who consulted the the government regulations website.
- People who read the Federal Register.
- Congress.
- The public in several cities in states bordering the lease sites.
Knowledge Check Question 4: What was the purpose of this EIS?
- To estimate the environmental impacts of oil and gas drilling in Southern states.
- To arrange for leasing off-shore regions for oil and gas drilling
- To determine what environmental impact requirements and stipulations would be needed in the drilling contracts.
- To file projected impacts with the Federal Register.
8. Simulated Peer Review Questions
For your convenience, here is the complete list of questions. You will complete this simulated peer review off-line. You can download this pdf and convert it to a text document where you can use whatever space needed to supply your answers. Or you can cut and paste from the screen display and create a fresh text document off-line.
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